The Most Expensive Piece of Sports History!⚾
This legendary piece of sports memorabilia has made history again… – Ken Golding
MLB rumors began swirling as to how much this piece of baseball history would fetch at auction the moment LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani blasted his historic 50/50 ball into the stands at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Now we know, and like everything else Ohtani touches, it’s a record.
Mystery Bidder Pays Millions
There were thousands of MLB games this season, but only one featured a $20 ball morphing into a $4.39 million treasure with just the swing of a bat. Shohei Ohtani’s stats this season were mind-blowing, and he became the only MLB player to ever swat 50 dingers and steal 50 bases in a single season. His 50th home run caused a mad scramble on the cement floor of LoanDepot Park in Miami before a fan named Christian Zacek came up with the prized ball.
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th HR ball sold for $4,392,000, making it the most expensive ball ever sold from any sport 🤯 @BRWalkoff pic.twitter.com/Nj7yWsF1oz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2024
The Dodgers made MLB news when they reportedly offered him $300,000 on the spot for the ball, but Zacek realized he had an important piece of history in his hand and that some wealthy fan would pay dearly for it. He was proven correct after Goldin auctioned it off, and it fetched a whopping $4.39 million, making it the most expensive ball ever sold in any sport, including Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998 ($3.005 million) and Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball from the 2022 season ($1.5 million).
HISTORY: Shohei Ohtani’s record-setting 50/50 home run ball sold for $4.392 million at @GoldinCo, becoming the highest-selling baseball in history.
The sale smashed the previous record of $3M fetched by Mark McGwire’s 70th HR ball in ‘98, per @darrenrovell.
(via @cllctMedia) pic.twitter.com/ee9rZQTNIg
— Boardroom (@boardroom) October 23, 2024
“Shohei Ohtani made history with this baseball, and now, with the highest sale price for any ball ever sold, this legendary piece of sports memorabilia has made history again,” said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, in a press statement. “We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder.”
The winning bidder has chosen to remain anonymous, and the legal owner of the ball is also not known after two other fans who were hunting for the historic ball have made claims Zacek wrested the ball out of their possession. That matter will be adjudicated in a court of law at a later date, but until then, the money will go into escrow until the legal matter is settled.
What’s Next for Shohei?
In what has been a season out of the mind of a Hollywood screenwriter, it’s only fitting Shohei Ohtani’s last series would be of the seven-game variety facing another legendary franchise, the New York Yankees, in the Fall Classic. Should it end any way other than the Japanese sensation hoisting the World Series Trophy, then the storybook season will have fallen short.
Shohei Ohtani was all smiles at #WorldSeries Media Day 😄 pic.twitter.com/qyWb2P0EjF
— MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2024
Currently the oddsmakers over at BetUS have Big Blue as a slight favorite and are also hanging MVP odds as well. It’s no wonder the Dodgers backed up the Brinks truck for Shohei Ohtani’s contract, signing the 2x AL MVP and 4x All-Star to a staggering 10-year, $700 million deal. But it will all be worth it if he and the Dodgers can bring home another World Series title to the City of Angels.
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